[Applause]
being a single parent securing
transportation having to attend court
because of a divorce
culture shock are taking care of a sick
parent can be invisible barriers that
affect student learning the definition
of a barrier is a circumstance or an
obstacle that it prevents progress the
difference between a barrier and a
disability is that a disability is to
find us a disadvantage especially when
recognized by the law to be recognized
by the law a disability has to be
assessed by a medical professional this
can take several months or privately
cost several thousand dollars a barrier
is not always assessed because it can be
temporary or non-medical but it’s still
a real disadvantage to learning today
I’m going to share with you my personal
experience about how I became an
advocate for Universal Design briefly in
education Universal Design for Learning
is implementing strategies to maximize
accessibility and understanding of
classroom material I’ll give you an
example last year I was introduced to a
student named Eric Eric had to take some
time off school because he was in a car
accident that left him without a
short-term memory eric had a wife and a
daughter and he was eager to finish his
education because he wanted to bring
home a decent income and this kind of
pressure put extra stress and anxiety on
Eric when I met with Eric he was nervous
but he was also excited to get started
and in my department we discussed how we
could support Eric but sadly his
accident was recent and no formal
assessment had been done before I met
Eric I had been reading about Universal
Design I read about Universal Design for
Learning in a newspaper article that
spoke about a girl who was suing her
school because they were forcing her
every semester to reveal her disability
her disability was depression and you
can imagine how it would feel every
semester
have to say that you are or you might be
depressed at one point or another
Universal Design eliminates the need for
when they have to reveal their personal
information and the isolation that goes
along with being singled out some simple
examples of universal design can be
extra time on tests open book tests
options for assignments and assessments
or pre-planned extensions the idea is
that the accommodation is set up in the
course delivery accessible to all
students
thus eliminating the need for when they
have to reveal their disability or their
barrier a visual representation of
Universal Design often used is the
sidewalk ramp the sidewalk ramp was
created to ease wheels wheelchair access
onto the sidewalk however it’s also very
helpful for parents with strollers and
this demonstrates how in a combination
for one population can be an
accommodation for everyone so back to
Eric after Eric sat in front of a test
for several hours and wasn’t able to
come up with any answers I decided with
the approval of my supervisor to provide
my whole class with open book tests the
assessments in my department were
created to assess critical thinking and
critical reading so even with their
books notes and definitions students
with limited knowledge of the content or
students with limited application skills
due to lack of practice could still
easily be identified of course the idea
appealed to the students it reduced
their stress allowing my students to
bring their notes and books force my
students to prepare my students quickly
realized after the first assessment that
it was in their best interest to
organize and review their notes to be
efficient now there is some concern that
Universal Design is going to lower the
benchmark of standardized education and
I think this can easily be solved by
assessing competencies white can be done
versus content retention what is
memorized
there’s argue well it’s not fair to the
students if not all the teachers do it
and I think it’s okay if we have
different teaching philosophies students
learn differently and our diversity and
practice is actually an opportunity for
them some people think that Universal
Design for Learning is going to further
marginalize students with real
disabilities and I think comparing
somebody with a real disability to
somebody with a lesser form of a
disability or a barrier it’s like
comparing somebody who broke their arm a
lot to somebody who broke their arm a
little bit either way they’re going to
need an accommodation because their arm
is going to hinder their progress in my
case it was suggested that I would put
my students at a disadvantage at the
time of the government final exam an
exam where my open-book chess policy
would not be allowed at the end of the
semester I collected the following
informal information by comparing my
class which received tests with
accommodations to a second class which
received the same tests without
accommodations my class and the other
class had similar averages on tests
which might be a surprise to you you
might have thought oh my class would
have done better but they did not which
is exactly how we want Universal Design
to work creating accessibility to all
students without creating an unfair
advantage I’d also like to note that
everyone in my class passed the closed
book final exam why do I think this
happened I think it happened because my
open book test policy taught my students
how to study the night before test my
students were able to discern what was
important and that skill is priceless I
also think that my students after the
open book test policy started to attend
tests with a different attitude before
the open book test policy my students
came to test defeated before they even
knew what was asked of them they never
studied enough and their nerves got the
best of them and when they didn’t do
well
reverted back to their old excuses the
train was late today or my kid was up
all night after the open book test my
students came to test confident they
were prepared they had their books they
had their notes they arrived to test
early and they were eager to get started
it was a fascinating turn around
I think Universal Design I think my open
book test policy was a positive
experience for my students if secretly
coax my students into studying and it
also reduced their stress my open book
test policy was like the ramp on the
sidewalk in terms of my students
understanding the material and it
brought out a greater potential in each
of them and if that’s the only thing
Universal Design did for my students
then I’m okay with that because a
positive learning experience is what
creates a lifelong learner
[Applause]
being a single parent securing
transportation having to attend court
because of a divorce
culture shock are taking care of a sick
parent can be invisible barriers that
affect student learning the definition
of a barrier is a circumstance or an
obstacle that it prevents progress the
difference between a barrier and a
disability is that a disability is to
find us a disadvantage especially when
recognized by the law to be recognized
by the law a disability has to be
assessed by a medical professional this
can take several months or privately
cost several thousand dollars a barrier
is not always assessed because it can be
temporary or non-medical but it’s still
a real disadvantage to learning today
I’m going to share with you my personal
experience about how I became an
advocate for Universal Design briefly in
education Universal Design for Learning
is implementing strategies to maximize
accessibility and understanding of
classroom material I’ll give you an
example last year I was introduced to a
student named Eric Eric had to take some
time off school because he was in a car
accident that left him without a
short-term memory eric had a wife and a
daughter and he was eager to finish his
education because he wanted to bring
home a decent income and this kind of
pressure put extra stress and anxiety on
Eric when I met with Eric he was nervous
but he was also excited to get started
and in my department we discussed how we
could support Eric but sadly his
accident was recent and no formal
assessment had been done before I met
Eric I had been reading about Universal
Design I read about Universal Design for
Learning in a newspaper article that
spoke about a girl who was suing her
school because they were forcing her
every semester to reveal her disability
her disability was depression and you
can imagine how it would feel every
semester
have to say that you are or you might be
depressed at one point or another
Universal Design eliminates the need for
when they have to reveal their personal
information and the isolation that goes
along with being singled out some simple
examples of universal design can be
extra time on tests open book tests
options for assignments and assessments
or pre-planned extensions the idea is
that the accommodation is set up in the
course delivery accessible to all
students
thus eliminating the need for when they
have to reveal their disability or their
barrier a visual representation of
Universal Design often used is the
sidewalk ramp the sidewalk ramp was
created to ease wheels wheelchair access
onto the sidewalk however it’s also very
helpful for parents with strollers and
this demonstrates how in a combination
for one population can be an
accommodation for everyone so back to
Eric after Eric sat in front of a test
for several hours and wasn’t able to
come up with any answers I decided with
the approval of my supervisor to provide
my whole class with open book tests the
assessments in my department were
created to assess critical thinking and
critical reading so even with their
books notes and definitions students
with limited knowledge of the content or
students with limited application skills
due to lack of practice could still
easily be identified of course the idea
appealed to the students it reduced
their stress allowing my students to
bring their notes and books force my
students to prepare my students quickly
realized after the first assessment that
it was in their best interest to
organize and review their notes to be
efficient now there is some concern that
Universal Design is going to lower the
benchmark of standardized education and
I think this can easily be solved by
assessing competencies white can be done
versus content retention what is
memorized
there’s argue well it’s not fair to the
students if not all the teachers do it
and I think it’s okay if we have
different teaching philosophies students
learn differently and our diversity and
practice is actually an opportunity for
them some people think that Universal
Design for Learning is going to further
marginalize students with real
disabilities and I think comparing
somebody with a real disability to
somebody with a lesser form of a
disability or a barrier it’s like
comparing somebody who broke their arm a
lot to somebody who broke their arm a
little bit either way they’re going to
need an accommodation because their arm
is going to hinder their progress in my
case it was suggested that I would put
my students at a disadvantage at the
time of the government final exam an
exam where my open-book chess policy
would not be allowed at the end of the
semester I collected the following
informal information by comparing my
class which received tests with
accommodations to a second class which
received the same tests without
accommodations my class and the other
class had similar averages on tests
which might be a surprise to you you
might have thought oh my class would
have done better but they did not which
is exactly how we want Universal Design
to work creating accessibility to all
students without creating an unfair
advantage I’d also like to note that
everyone in my class passed the closed
book final exam why do I think this
happened I think it happened because my
open book test policy taught my students
how to study the night before test my
students were able to discern what was
important and that skill is priceless I
also think that my students after the
open book test policy started to attend
tests with a different attitude before
the open book test policy my students
came to test defeated before they even
knew what was asked of them they never
studied enough and their nerves got the
best of them and when they didn’t do
well
reverted back to their old excuses the
train was late today or my kid was up
all night after the open book test my
students came to test confident they
were prepared they had their books they
had their notes they arrived to test
early and they were eager to get started
it was a fascinating turn around
I think Universal Design I think my open
book test policy was a positive
experience for my students if secretly
coax my students into studying and it
also reduced their stress my open book
test policy was like the ramp on the
sidewalk in terms of my students
understanding the material and it
brought out a greater potential in each
of them and if that’s the only thing
Universal Design did for my students
then I’m okay with that because a
positive learning experience is what
creates a lifelong learner
[Applause]
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